


Learning Seagull

by Fireagate



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Season 1, The Author Attempts Comedy, a little spicy in the second chapter, but not so spicy I'm going to change the rating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26492620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireagate/pseuds/Fireagate
Summary: "In addition to physical privacy, the waterfall conveniently drowned out any noise that might be coming from behind it. That was the reason she’d invited Sea Hawk there today. The ONLY reason. Noise cancellation. After all, if she was going to do this she was NOT going to be overheard."In which Mermista, irritated at Sea Hawk's lack of communication whilst adventuring, decides to teach him Seagull.
Relationships: Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jicklet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jicklet/gifts).



> This fic is dedicated to Jicklet, who is an excellent example of how dang *nice* the Seamista fandom is and who graciously put up with me babbling headcanons and asking questions like “What would Sea Hawk have in his pockets?” during hours of the night considered ungodly by normal folks.
> 
> Set prior to the start of the series. Assume Mermista and Sea Hawk are around ages 21-23 or so.

~~~

_9:45 pm  
_ Mermista: my dad found out I gave you that communicator and says I can’t give you another one if you break it or set it on fire or whatever

Mermista: don’t break it okay

 _10:52 pm  
_ Mermista: you broke it already didn’t you

 _1:17 am  
_ Mermista: you’re not dead, right?

 _3:23 am  
_ Mermista: I am so teaching you seagull next time you’re here

 _3:33 am  
_ Mermista: you better not be dead

~~~

He strode into the palace with a jaunty strut that set her teeth on edge and made her rethink telling the guards the idiot with the purple hair was ever allowed in the gate. She turned around and headed back down the corridor. Maybe he wouldn’t see her.

“Mermista! My beauty of the sea!”

No such luck. Mermista kept walking. “Shut it.”

“I’ve found a wonderful bar near the docks with free karaoke every weekend!”

Dammit, he _knew_ she loved karaoke. “Not interested.”

“And I brought you a delightful surprise from Ceruline.”

Why was this stupid castle so big? “Keep it.”

“I am getting a suspicious feeling that you might be mad at me.”

She finally reached the door to her room, opened it, and turned to face him. “Yeaaah,” she drawled. “What gave you the clue?”

“You haven’t leapt into my arms in joy that I’m back.” He sounded like he honestly thought that was a possibility.

“Like, I have _never_ done that.”

“You’re also pushing me away even as we – ow! – speak.”

“That’s because I’m mad at you, idiot.”

“Aha! Sea Hawk is always right! …You’re mad at me? But I just got back!” Mermista ignored the way his puzzled frown and puppy eyes made her heart soften.

“That’s the problem. You _just_ got back.”

“Yes, so I said…”

“Meet me at the waterfall tomorrow at 10:30 or I’m never speaking to you again.”

“Of course, but Mermis-”

She slammed the door in his face.

~~~

The waterfall was located on the southeast side of the castle. Hidden behind it in a cave was Mermista’s semi-secret retreat. A guard was stationed nearby if she was using it, but it was understood that if Mermista was inside she was Not To Be Disturbed. Her dad didn’t always “remember” this rule, but that was what the second chamber only accessible via a water passage was for: when Mermista didn’t want her dad bothering her either.

In addition to physical privacy, the waterfall conveniently drowned out any noise that might be coming from behind it. That was the reason she’d invited Sea Hawk there today. The _only_ reason. Noise cancelation. After all, if she was going to do this she was _not_ going to be overheard.

He was waiting for her when she arrived at 10:15. “Mermista! You’re early!”

She frowned but still waved a hand to part the falling water for him so he could slip into the cave dry.

“You broke it, didn’t you? It took you what, two days?”

“Broke what, Mermista?”

She rolled her eyes and threw herself dramatically on the couch. “The _communicator_. The expensive tech I gave you so you could tell me you were alive.”

“Oh! Er, yes, that did meet a very unfortunate end. There was a small fire in the bilge, and in the course of putting it out I may have fallen overboard for reasons that had nothing at all to do with an angry first mate, and…”

Mermista groaned. “Fine, I get it. Now come over here and help me find the seaweed snacks. I think I left some by the couch.”

“Yes! Sea Hawk will fin-”

“Oh, here they are.”

“Right, as I was saying, Sea Hawk will help you eat the snacks!”

“Shut up and have a seat, goober. And take off your boots before they get dirt all over my couch.”

She handed him a package while he complied, and they contentedly munched.

“So, what did you get me?”

“Hm? Sorry, I was distracted looking at the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“You are _such_ an idiot.”

“And yet I’m the only sea captain with free access to the palace.” He playfully waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Remind me to revoke that.”

“I will not.”

“I would tell the guard right now if he could hear me over the waterfall.” That reminded her. “Right. So, like, since you set fire to everything you touch, I’m teaching you Seagull.”

“Seagull? I must remind you, Sea Hawk is well aware of the many birds of the ocean, particularly the dastardly seagulls.”

“Yeah, well, does _Sea Hawk_ know how to talk to them?”

“I want to say yes, but I’m guessing the answer is no.”

Mermista finished her snack and dusted off her fingers. “It’s, like, a royal thing. Learning sea creature language. But I don’t think you’re equipped to speak Dolphin and turtles have, like, a 10-word vocabulary, so we’re going with Seagull.”

“Mermista, do you mean to tell me you can talk to sea creatures? Amazing!”

“ _Don’t_ make a big deal out of it.” But she ducked her head to hide her blush.

“Impossible! Please, go on.”

“Okay, so, like, I’m not going to teach you the whole language. We use a phonetic code to send messages. First you tell the seagull who the message is for, then where they are, then you use the code. The seagull just mimics that part, it doesn’t know what you’re saying. Then the seagull will come and find me and repeat the code and I’ll know you’re not dead. Got it?”

He was staring at her with hearts in his eyes. “Yes! Absolutely! Now how do I say ‘Mermista’?”

“It’s not ‘Mermista’ in Seagull, it’s ‘Water Princess.’ You do it like this.” Mermista tilted her head, contorted her face, and let out a strange squaa- _AWK_.

“I see!” Sea Hawk repeated the contortions and noise with enthusiasm.

“Okay, that was actually, somehow, really close. Hilarious, but close. Do it again, and kind of blow air through your nose at the same time.” She demonstrated with another squaa- _AWK_.

Sea Hawk tried again, again making the hideous noise that represented her to flying beach scavengers.

“You can’t move your body so much. Seagull is mostly about the head.” She reached over to hold his shoulders in place. “Again.”

Squaaaa- _AWK_.

“Was that right? That felt right!”

“Yeah, the seagulls will laugh at your accent but they’ll recognize that. Good job, goob- _don’t_.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were looking it.”

“Can I help what my eyes do around you?”

“YES. Now, next word. After my name, you have to tell the bird where I am because seagulls aren’t, like, psychic. If it’s the palace, you do this…”

HA- _ron-_ koo. This noise involved tongue movements that had to be just _so_ or else the message was likely to end up in Beast Island and the messenger a beast snack.

“No, _flick_ your tongue. Flick it. Oh my god, like _this_.” He watched carefully as her tongue performed gymnastics in a way fanfiction writers would envy.

“Ah! Like this?” This time, he flicked his tongue quickly on the last syllable before completing his head roll.

“Yeah, just like that.” She gave him a thumbs up

“It’s exactly the same movement I use when we—mmph!”

“DON’T. SAY IT.”

“Mmmphasdh.” He wiggled away from her quieting hand. “You know, for a woman teaching me a language there are a lot of things you don’t want me to say.”

She glared at him. “Do you want to learn this or not?”

“Learn! Definitely learn!” He sat up at attention, the picture of an eager student.

Caaaw-ark!

Kr _awa_ agka.

Awwh! Awwho!

Laughter.

Sea Hawk picked up the calls fast. “It’s like choreography for your face! I wonder if I could write a Seagull shanty…”

By then Mermista had relaxed and merely playfully punched him for the suggestion. “That shanty I actually want to see. Once.”

“Then it shall be written! Hmm, I might need to expand my vocabulary somewhat. What rhymes with ‘ocean’ in Seagull?”

Mermista obligingly craned her neck to a 60-degree angle and made a noise like she was being strangled.

“Perfect! What word is that?”

She smiled. “Adventure.”

“Why, Mermista!”

~~~


	2. Chapter 2

~~~

An hour later, Mermista finally called a halt, flopping again onto the couch. “If I, like, squawk one more alphabet my throat is going to be dead tomorrow,” she said while rubbing her neck.

“We can’t have that,” said Sea Hawk, gently moving her hair out of the way so he could massage her shoulders and neck for her. “We’re going to Rip Tide tomorrow night.”

“Rip tide?” Ohh but his hands felt good. She leaned into them, tilting her head to direct him to the sore spots.

“The delightful bar with free karaoke on weekends. But that’s not the best part!”

“It’s not? Mm, lower.” He complied, his hands maintaining a steady rhythm.

“We can’t attend a new bar to sing epic duets without dressing for the part!”

“Mm, I’m pretty sure we can, actually.”

“I found the most beautiful outfits in Ceruline! When I saw the teal fabric lined with threads of real gold, I knew it could grace none but my princess of the sea!”

“Goober.” She stood up, rolled her shoulders, and pushed him down onto the sofa in the place she’d just vacated. “My turn.” She started to work on his back, then stopped. “Jacket on or off?”

“Off, please.”

He helped her strip it off, then re-succumbed to her ministrations.

She liked massaging his back. His muscles were strong and felt good under her hands, but that wasn’t the best part. The best part, which she would _never_ tell him, was all the amazing noises he made whenever she found the right spot.

No wonder he picked up Seagull so fast.

“Okay,” she said.

“Mmmmm? Oh! There! Yes! Mmmm. Sorry, what?”

“Let’s dress up and go to the bar.”

“Fantastic! It will be a night of adventure!”

“BUT. First you have to get a seagull to tell me you’re not dead.”

“A fair bargain. But- _right_ now?” He whimpered as her hands stopped.

“You’re right, we should get off this couch.”

“Ah, that’s not what I m-“

“Did you practice holding your breath like I told you?”

“Ye-es?”

“Come’re.” She tugged him over to the pool in the back of the cave. “Like, the guards don’t come in here but sometimes Dad’ll check up on me.”

“I feel like you should have told me that fact before.”

“Hold your breath. I don’t have a lot of practice doing this yet. Wait. Do you have anything on you that can’t get wet?”

Sea Hawk checked his pockets and came up with a small blue rock – “It reminded me of you!”, a wad of string, a small piece of wood in the process of becoming a sea serpent, some loose change, and a harmonica.

“Wait, so that was a harmonica in your pocket?” she asked as she set the instrument aside on the couch.

“Of course. The accordion is in my jacket.”

“Not what I- Never mind. Take a deep breath, and then don’t, like, breathe unless you have to.” As he did so, she created a bubble with the water and put it over his head. His eyes widened, but he followed her willingly into the pond and let her guide him through the pitch-black underwater tunnel without hesitation.

When they came up at the other end several minutes later, he was only gasping a little. Mermista thunked him on his back, feeling a little guilty she hadn’t thought about how dark the water would be. “You okay?”

“Never better!” he coughed. “Where are we?”

“The secret cave in my secret cave,” she grinned. “Dad can’t follow me here.”

“Ah! I _see._ ”

Ugh. His happy expression was just too cute. To make up for it, Mermista lightly punched him in the arm before rummaging through a box.

“It’s a pain to get furniture in here, but I’ve got some blankets and there’s a bedroll we can spread out.”

“Mermista, this is already a wonderful adventure, but I just want to be sure: are you suggesting we, er…” He blushed bright red, unable to finish his question.

“Well, I _was_ going to suggest you get out of those wet clothes, but you know, whatever. It’s fine.”

“I would _absolutely_ love to, but I want to be extra clear about your intentions. I can’t help but recall you were upset with me two hours ago.”

“So you _did_ notice.”

“I notice _everything_ about my Mermista.” There were those heart eyes again. Ugh.

“Yeah, well, if you notice _everything_ , you should have noticed that I didn’t know what happened to you for Over. Three. Weeks.”

He winced. “Very sorry about that. I did tell you I was going up the coast then to Ceruline before I left, didn’t I?”

“You start fires just, like, by existing! I was _worried_!”

“My dear. Dearest.” He took her in his arms. “Starting tomorrow every seagull on the ocean will know of Sea Hawk and bring you news of my great adventures.”

“Noisy Idiot,” she murmured into his chest.

“What?”

“Your Seagull name.” She looked up at him. “I’ve already instructed the local flock.”

“It _did_ seem suspicious when you laughed extra hard when I practiced that one.”

“It has to be descriptive or they can’t find you,” she teased.

He might have continued to quibble the point, but Mermista was pulling on his shirt. “What fabric is this? I can’t believe it’s not see-through.”

“Would you like to see through it?” His tone was suggestive.

“I might.” She playfully pulled off his headband. 

“Anything for my dearest Mermista,” he said, releasing her from his arms long enough to quickly shuck off his shirt.

“Mmm,” said Mermista as she ran an appreciative hand over the expanse in front of her. “The pants are wet too. And… I thought you left the harmonica on the couch?”

He meeped as her hand dipped.

“Perhaps I should find somewhere for them to dry,” he said with an unsteady voice.

“Yeah. You should.” Mermista made a show of looking around. “Oh look, the floor. Perfect. You can leave them there.”

He had complied before she finished the suggestion.

“Help me with my shoulder pads?” She lifted her hair out of the way. With shaky fingers, he unfastened first the left, then the right.

“And the top. Always need help with the top.” His hands glided from her hips to her shirt hem, gently lifting, caressing as he went. He hesitated, then finished pulling her top off in one smooth motion. Then his hands returned to where they had just vacated, and he bent his head to join his hands. Mermista moaned, her own hands roaming across his back and anywhere else they could reach.

While his mouth was occupied, his hands reached for her leggings and experimentally tugged. Taking her lifting hips for assent, he peeled them down her thighs and then off to join his on the floor.

“Blankets,” Mermista panted. “We should really do this on the blankets.”

“As my princess commands.”

Now it was her turn to be startled as he swept her up and carried her the several feet to the covered bed roll. Sea Hawk winked at her. “You can’t _always_ carry me, you know.”

“And yet somehow it keeps happening. Set me down already.”

“I don’t know, this position has its charms.” He pecked a quick kiss on her lips.

“This is hardly a _position_.”

“If you’re not too tired from instructing me earlier, perhaps you could teach me what _does_ qualify…”

She rolled her eyes, rolled out of his arms, and pulled him down with her to roll him on his back.

“Yeah, I could probably teach you. First lesson. Remember that movement with your tongue….?”

He definitely remembered, and was happy spend quite some time demonstrating the many benefits of learning a second language.

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today’s head canon: When Sea Hawk mentions his Seagull is rusty in Boy’s Night Out, it’s because he’s spent so long at Mermista’s side they haven’t needed to use it in a long time. <3
> 
> If you draw what it looks like when Mermista is showing Sea Hawk how to speak Seagull, I will forever be in your debt!


End file.
